Cramer: Citi's moves are long overdue

Cramer: Citi's moves are long overdue

It's about time Citigroup (NYSE:C) executed some of its recent actions, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday.

"These are moves that are long overdue," Cramer said on CNBC's " Squawk on the Street ." "As he's gotten control of the bank, [Citi CEO Michael Corbat ]'s recognized where the fat is. He's cut a lot of overseas divisions ... and now he's [looking forward]."

Citigroup said Tuesday it had agreed to sell OneMain Financial for about $4.25 billion to Springleaf Holdings (LEAF), a subprime loans lender. Citi also said the sale would add nearly $1 billion in earnings before taxes.

The banking giant also announced Monday it would become, along with Visa (NYSE:V), Costco (COST)'s exclusive issuer of co-branded cards starting next month.

This agreement led to the bank's shares being upgraded from "neutral" to "overweight" by J.P. Morgan. "One of our concerns about Citi has been about tepid fundamentals and loss of market share in key businesses such as U.S. credit cards. The Costco co-branding acquisition should reverse this in U.S. credit cards," J.P. Morgan (JPM) said in a note on Tuesday.

Read More Costco enters into long term credit card deal with Citi, Visa

Nevertheless, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) CEO Warren Buffett said Monday the deal will not be too beneficial for Citi. "I don't think Citi will get rich off [the deal]," Buffett told CNBC's " Squawk Box " on Monday. "The co-branded cards ... have become quite a competitive business. It's better to have your own proprietary card."

Citi shares were up about 0.5 percent late Tuesday morning. (Click here (NYSE:C) to see what the stock is doing now.)

-Reuters contributed to this report.



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